The Ins- and outs of the closet 

EXPLORING METAPHORICAL AND LITERAL SPACES  

by Paulina Prieto de la Fuente, 2024 

The ins- and outs of the closet is a piece that sets a research application in motion. The application titled, “A hundred years of closets - a sequential journey through the 20th century and everything that didn't fit” is centered around an interest/ obsession/ scrutiny directed into the closet as a cultural and identity-forming space. It investigates the wardrobe, both in the practical sense as storage, and as a secret and metaphorical object of identity-formation. Via architectural-artistic methods the wardrobe/ closet will be scrutinized and explored as a room type and a piece of furniture over the course of a 100 years (the 20th century). The purpose of this investigation is to bring to the fore interesting and unforeseen examples of closet design as well as speculating and meditating over the cultural and subjective possibilities there are within, between and beyond walls made of wood, clay, fabric, concrete, brick. The project aims to raise awareness and contribute to the knowledge about how to convert identity-formational ideas to construction of interior spaces, without losing sight of non-tangible aspects such as atmospheres and personal sensory experiences.  

Paulina Prieto de la Fuente is an Architect and Lecturer at the Department of Architecture and Built Environment, LTH-Lund University.